Friday through Tuesday - It's been busy!

Every day I think I'm going to have a nice, quiet, relaxing day at home turns into another bout of running around like a chicken with its head cut off!

I received a call from my vascular surgeon on Friday morning informing me that I was being added to the procedure schedule at the hospital on Tuesday morning. They decided to do an angiogram (they call it a fistulagram) to open up my dialysis access. The access flow number was less than half of what it should have been when the test was repeated last Wednesday.

Friday night after dialysis, all I did was apply for scholarships. The SallieMae search I used came up with 25 that matched some of my given information and I think I applied to about 10 of those. Some were for full-time students or had other criteria I didn't fit. It was very helpful and I recommend it to anyone heading off to college.

Friday through Monday I didn't even touch Ocean Star. Not a single stitch. I thought about it but it didn't happen.

I had a completely boring weekend. To pass the time on Saturday, Kasey and I went to Best Buy to look at laptops. My laptop is over three years old and weighs almost 7lbs. It's way too heavy for me to carry, not to mention the fact that it gets super-hot and I can't hold it in my lap. I also do not want to take two semesters of math without a 10-key pad on my laptop.

I know you can get one of the plug-in 10-key pads, but I've tried it and unless you have a big table for the laptop and keypad, it doesn't work. There are alot of laptops on the market that have them built in, just like a regular keyboard. Almost all Toshiba machines have them, but none of those were lighter than what I already have. There was an HP, which was the lightest, but I refuse to buy an HP machine. I'm not prejudiced, I just know their quality has gone downhill since joining with Compaq.

I found an Asus that would meet my needs and had my computer geek brother, Ben, look over the specs for me to double-check. He said that other than the video card being slow, which I knew about, he didn't see any reason it wouldn't do what I needed it to do. If I have enough grant/scholarship money, I'm going to get the laptop for school work and keep my current laptop to use for everything else.

I went to Sarah's later Saturday afternoon and stayed for about an hour before returning home. Caleb somehow got into the white-out and painted both himself and his sister with it. Anna sounded insulted when I asked her who put the stripes on her. She was so funny!

Sunday was acutally a little relaxing. I had alot of email to read and respond to, as well as some blog posts to write. At 2pm I went next door to go over the dog and cat's schedule of feedings and things. This opportunity came at just the right time because I'm always short of money towards the end of the month. The extra cash will be very useful. I spent the evening watching some shows from my DVR and that was about the extent of my day. I certainly needed the rest!

Tuesday morning, the procedure went fine and Sarah and the kids picked me up from the hospital at 9:15am. We went to McDonald's so the kids could get hot cakes. I got an Egg McMuffin (the only thing I can eat on the entire menu) and then we went to Wawa. I got two Italian Shorties since they generously extended Hogiefest til August 9th. That way, I didn't have to do any cooking while I'm in pain!

See? There's a method to my madness! It's not ALL about the addiction to Wawa Italian subs!

I slept from about 10am til 12:45pm and felt absolutely fine when I awoke. My arm ached a little so I took a pain pill. I couldn't sit around doing nothing. For some reason, those sedatives and anaesthesia meds make me edgy and fidgety. I had to go somewhere and decided the college campus was going to be the destination. I received an email Monday night saying that my FASFA was chosen for Independent Verification so there was an additional form to fill out. Only I don't have a printer that works with my laptop and Uncle Wes's printer needs ink.

I went to the college library's computer lab and printed the form, filled it out, and turned it in to the Financial Aid office in person. While there, my academic advisor, Lisa, saw Kasey and I so she came over to say hello. I told her what we were up to and that we were meeting with the nurse at 3pm. I also told her I needed to see her sometime because I wanted to verify that the courses I plan on taking will transfer to the University of Maryland after I get my AA degree. She told me she'd be back from lunch at 5pm and I agreed to meet her then.

I also double-checked with F.A. that they received my forms from DoRS and that would be taken care of shortly. Everything was in order so we headed to Health Services to meet the school's nurse, Beth.

Beth and I had a very nice talk. I explained my medical history and Kasey's role in my care. She assured me that they are very well-versed in the disability laws and cognizant of the rules regarding service dogs. I was worried that Kasey would be left at the school if I had to be ambulanced to the hospital but she told me they would not let that happen. She's aware that some crews don't like to take service dogs, but the school will not allow them to leave a SD without its handler. It's actually against the law. I felt alot better with her assurance.

We discussed scenarios and things that have happened in the past, so she is aware of some of the triggers of my syncope. She also knows that I can usually tell when I'm very dehydrated and those are the times, especially, when I stay home. We all hope there's never an episode on campus, but if there is, Health Services, Security Services, my professors, and anyone else Beth deems to need to be in the know will have my Plan of Care, which I will be working on soon. We talked for 90 minutes and then I went upstairs to wait for Lisa.

Since I had to wait, I pulled out Ocean Star and worked on filling in more of the diamonds. It's coming along, slowly but surely.

Lisa and I went over the courses I've decided to take for my AA degree and only found three that will not transfer to the University of MD. Lucky for me they were all electives. My digital photography and photojournalism courses are questionable. Lisa said I'll probably have to explain to an advisor at the U of MD what I'm planning with my degree and they won't have a problem accepting those credits.

When I got home, I was exhausted, but I still had to take care of Daisy. That's right! In the middle of arm surgery, I'm watching the neighbor's cat and dog for them. So Wes, Daisy, Kasey, and me went for a walk. We took the girls into the Nursery School playground to run around and then brought them back to the house. Wes put Daisy in her house and I went over to feed her and Sneakers and bring in the litterbox from the back stoop. Since the house is for sale, the cat and dog spend the daytime hours outside. As soon as I opened the door to grab the litterbox, Daisy came running from behind me and got out the door before I could even put a hand on her.

I went home to tell Wes that Daisy was loose and then started following her. Kasey was trying to help, but Daisy wouldn't follow her into the carport. I guess she's fallen for that trick too many times. She also wouldn't get into the back of my truck. She wouldn't get within arm's reach of anyone. Our neighbor on the other side, Tom, tried to grab her but he couldn't get her collar. She just kept running around the yards, back and forth. Then she decided to go down the private road to the other end of the neighborhood and wound up at the house furthest from ours.

Trina came out because she saw Daisy, with Kasey in tow, go across her deck. I told her what happened and she tried to grab Daisy, too. No luck! The kids next door pulled in and asked what was going on. By that time, Kasey was standing beside me panting heavily because she was worn out. Daisy, on the other hand, was still running around the houses. All I can say is Thank Goodness we live on a dead-end road!! At least we didn't have traffic to contend with!

Somehow, Daisy started milling around the kids and Sarah was able to grab her collar! Wes quickly put the chain collar and leash on Daisy and we headed back home, after profusely thanking everyone for their help. Kasey was hilarious, because she cut across Ms. Peggy's and Tom's yards in order to get home as fast as possible! There was no staying on the driveway for her; she was headed to the house in a straight line!

After all that walking and excitement, I was absolutely exhausted. I got back to the house and collapsed in my chair. I told Wessy to bring Daisy in with us. I figured she had to be tired after all that, but it took her 45 mintues to finally settle down. She even tried to get Kasey to play with her! Kasey looked at her as if to say, "Are you INSANE?! I'm tired!" She wouldn't even move.

I took Daisy home around 8:30 so that I could feed Kasey and Chet without worrying about her eating Kasey's food. I figured she'd just fall right asleep once she was home, which she pretty much did.

The rest of the evening was quiet and I worked on choosing classes to replace the ones that wouldn't transfer. I'm pretty sure I have everything worked out for my degree. Now I have to figure out when I'm going to take the courses and whether I'm going to register for the one 15-week Spring term and take three courses (10 credits), or if I'm going to take the two 8-week spring sessions and do two courses each sesssion.

If I do that, I can take four courses in the same amount of time and earn 14 credits. If I can get my lab sciences and another class in those 8-week sessions, I may just do it. I'm also hoping that the College Algebra is offered during the 2-week winter term. It would be really nice to get that out of the way! I'm hoping to take care of my Computer Technology requirement by taking the CLEP test. I just have to find study materials.

Since I can't do a full-time schedule, I'm trying to find ways to fit in classes here and there to earn more credits each term. It all depends on what classes are offered in the shorter sessions, though. I'd also like to take two classes next summer, one in each of the 6-week sessions that are offered. I'm impatiently waiting for the school to release the Winter, Spring, and Summer credit courses. I feel better when I can have everything planned out so there are no surprises.

Tomorrow is another dialysis day, but it's also Borders Stitching Night, so I'm looking forward to it!

July 10, 2009

So....College. Wow! I didn't think it would be possible. Now I'm determined to get my Bachelor's Degree. The biggest barrier, the Almighty Dollar, is no longer a consideration. Between the free tuition at any community college in the state (because I receive SSDI) and the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DoRS) picking up the tab for everything else, the cost concerns are gone.

Now it is a matter of applying, gathering records, taking placement tests, registering, and attending classes...all the while praying that I continue feeling as well as I do now.

My major? Probably English, as Journalism is not the path I wish to eventually take. I am leaning more towards Editing/Proofreading and possibly writing. I was a bookkeeper in my previous professional life so this new path is a complete change. It's what I really want though. I love writing, editing, proofreading, and taking pictures to go along with my writings. I do it almost every day. Now, someday, I could get paid for it!

I applied for an online job two nights ago. When I checked my email last night, I found a Mailer-Daemon in my spam folder. The email I'd written to the bookstore offering the job was returned to me. I verified that the email address I used was correct so I'm going to wait a couple days in case it actually did go through. The job was perfect - Online Book Club Assistant & Internet Research Associate. Definitely stuff that can be done from home! Too bad their website is plagiarized from another bookstore and their email address kicks back emails you send to them. Oh well. Now I'll start looking for something else.

I went to dialysis early today and Dr S was doing rounds. He was able to fill out my Disability Verification Form for AACC and to write the note to DoRS saying that it's recommended that I only attend college part-time. I originally hoped to be able to go to the college and meet with an academic advisor but there wasn't enough time. Instead I came home and cooked dinner.

I bought some tuna steaks last night and knew they wouldn't last long in the fridge so I decided to fix them tonight. Uncle Wes had a really long day at work and didn't feel like firing up the grill so I used my grill pan and cooked them on the stove top. I used a recipe from Giada deLaurentiis, sprinkling the steaks with salt and pepper, brushing with olive oil (I sprayed EVOO on the pan instead), and grilling them for two minutes on each side. I misread her ingredient list and my steaks weren't two inches thick like she called for. I thought it just called for thick-cut tuna steaks and mine were. If I'd realized beforehand, I would have only cooked my steaks for about a minute on each side. Since they were thinner, the middle wasn't rare, but almost medium.

I set the tuna steaks on a plate to rest for a few minutes and then cut them in half-inch slices across the grain of the meat. I juiced two of Lisa's lemons and drizzled the juice over the tuna and fixed some broccoli florets with cheese sauce to enjoy with it. Giada's recipe called to serve the tuna with Basil Pesto, but the lemon added the perfect flavor enhancement to the tuna. After eating my fill I even had enough left over for another meal.

I decided to fix another dinner around 11pm. This time, I took some Lemongrass Chicken Stix and Vegetable Bird's Nests out of the freezer. Both were very good, but the birds nests had extra phosphorus added, so I probably won't purchase them again. The chicken stix were delicious! I'll definitely be going back to Trader Joe's for more. The only problem with these "freezer foods" was that they're not microwaveable. They'd turn to mush. It's more a convenience issue than a problem, but you know what I mean. They're not a quick-fix snack, which is what I had in mind when I purchased them. That'll teach me to check the packaging next time!

They both came with instructions for baking in the oven and deep-frying. Since grease and I do not get along, I opted for the oven method. Luckily it was late at night and a little on the cool side, because that oven being at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes certainly can heat up a house. Add to that, the birds nests have to cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and it could get downright uncomfortable in the heat of the day.

In the time from one dinner to the next, I worked on Ocean Star a little. I was able to almost complete the star points between the center medallion and the diamonds and squares. Working on this piece is so soothing to me. Nancy Buhl's designs are a delight, as it's mostly repetitive stitching. I can't wait to do another!

July 9, 2009 - Loooong Day!

I knew it would be, but still...

Kasey and I left for Barnes & Noble at 12:45, stopping at my doctor's office along the way to get a referral for an appointment I have tomorrow morning. We arrived at B&N shortly after 1pm and stitched until 3:52. I made decent progress on Ocean Star despite chatting with a new member, Kathy, about online jobs, school, and networking. I'm so glad I was there today! Kathy is going to be a huge help in getting my resume, Visual CV, and job search kick-started.

I was supposed to be at DoRS at 4:00. I kept checking the time and somehow that last 40 minutes got away from me. I looked at my phone at 3:08 and the next thing I knew it was 3:52! Why does that always happen?

I made it across town in record time, but I was five minutes late for my appointment. Since Sue was 20 minutes late for our last one, I knew she wouldn't mind. She and I discussed my findings regarding the Medical Coding Certificate at AACC and when she heard how long it takes and the courses required, even she didn't want me going that route. She agreed it was too much medicalese.

I told her that my heart was still with proofreading/writing/editing and she checked my career assessment, her notes, and the DoRS rules and I now have the go-ahead to get my four-year degree! The community college doesn't offer a Journalism or English course of study, so I will have to create my own. After looking at the University of Maryland's course requirements for Journalism, that's not really the route I want to take, either. I'm pretty sure I'll wind up being an English major once I transfer to a four-year university. I don't want to be a reporter, I want to be a writer and or editor.

My next step is to apply to Anne Arundel Community College and meet with the Disability Services and Academic Advisors. I have to have an appointment for the DSS office, but Academic Advising is on a walk-in basis.

After my appointment with Sue, Kasey and I went home to wait for Sarah to call. Once she got home I went over to pick her up and we headed to our first stop. We went to Food Lion, Trader Joe's, and Shoppers Food. We got back to my house and brought all my groceries in. Sarah helped me by taking some of the meats down to the chest freezer in the basement. We left all the non-perishables in the kitchen while I took her home. Tyler helped unload all their groceries and I headed back home. It was 11:30 by the time I arrived back home. Then I had to finish putting all my groceries away.

Kasey helped though! When I stepped into the kitchen I found an empty bag. It had been 24 Martin's Party Rolls. She ate every single one. I let her live, but only because I had six more packages of them. I eat them for snacks all the time. Anna and Caleb love them, too. So I bought every one that Food Lion had. Sarah bought the one pack that Shoppers had because she had to try them after I told her how good they were.

June 29, 2009 - Sorting out some things...

I said in this afternoon's quick post that I would take a picture for you to see the yellows I was discussing for my purple suede bag. Here they are. On the left is Marigold by Weeks Dye Works. This is my favorite. The concensus at Borders tonight was that the Belle Soie/DMC Perle are too light and don't look nice with the purple of the bag. The Marigold seems to shine, and in a black backgroud, it will POP!

I stitched today! I met Genia, Nancy, and Marsielle at Borders Books' Cafe and we stitched for about two hours. I have three more stitches to do in the 'I' of "It's Good to be Home" and the words will be done. Then I all that's left is the border and adding the buttons. I'm very excited to see this project complete because I want to start Desert Star (which I've renamed Ocean Breeze) by Nancy Buhl of From Nancy's Needle! I have been restraining myself from starting anything else until this HIH project is finished. I don't need any more UFO's hanging around here.

Speaking of UFO's, I have decided the fate of two of mine...

Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs has been in my UFO drawer for over a year now. I can't stand to stitch on it. I can't even stand to look at it. Not only does it use solely DMC, but also its border is RED! UGH! The solution? Frog the red border and cut the fabric, leaving the four miniature samplers that were stitched over one thread. I'm not tossing out two months' worth of work.

I have to say that I cannot take credit for this marvelous solution, however. I didn't come up with it. I have to thank the ladies at the Columbia Interest Group of EGA's Constellation Chapter. Up until their helpful advice and input (including an offer to do the frogging for me!), I was at a complete loss as to how to salvage DW without starting over. Oh, start over? Not an option!

The second UFO I've finally made a decision on is Stitches Stars and Stripes, my patriotic gameboard by Blue Ribbon Designs. Its fate: complete frogging. You read that correctly. I'm frogging everything I've done, putting the fabric back in my stash, and adding the chart to my Trade Blog! Every time I look at it I see how much stitching there is to do and my heart drops. It would take me forever. I thought about replacing some of the fully-stitched squares with charms, but how many hearts, stars, and flags enameled in the stars & stripes can you use? Besides that, I'm allergic to nickel and I am NOT buying gold-plated charms for this one! So that's it. I'm done. Two down!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I would be doing some giveaways in July? Well, get ready! They're all lined up and I will be rolling them out this week! To whet your appetite, the giveaway themes are: Crossed Purposes' 18-month/400th Post, Christmas in July, and Myrl's De-Stash.

I have also promised myself that I would ruthlessly go through MY stash and pull out the things I know I will not stitch. The second part of my Promise to Me is that I would have all these items, and those already set aside for that purpose, added to my Trade Blog by the end of July. I will let you know when the first batch of items has been added.

June 23, 2009

I've been waiting for today since September. I'm finally off the waiting list at the Department of Rehabilitation Services and I had my appointment with my DoRS counselor, Sue C. While we didn't get as much accomplished as she wanted to, Sue and I were able to completely go through the report on the career assessment I took last fall. I will be meeting with her again in July and we will write out specific goals and a plan to set me on a path to attaining them. In the meantime, I will be contacting the community college so that I can meet with a disability coordinator and an admissions advisor. I'm really excited to get on the road to higher education after all these years.

I was enrolled in college in the winter of 1994 but only spent a week in classes before I was admitted to the hospital for "23 hours of observation." I was released twelve days later to be flown from Atlanta to Boston for emergency surgery at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachussetts. After spending another nine days in the hospital there, and by the time I returned to Chattanooga and was able to attend classes, I was too far behind to catch up. That was my college experience. This time around, I have the help of DoRS and will be working closely with a disability coordinator so that I can have extended deadlines if something happens with my health during the course of my studies. I will be sure to keep you updated as this new chapter in my life unfolds...I hope I don't bore you to death!

Following the DoRS appointment I mailed a trade (Look out, Lynn!) and then came home to relax and stitch a little. I wound up reading emails, chatting, and uploading pictures so only got a little bit done on my WIP. That's right-I have a WIP to report on, not another finish. I can't keep up that pace forever, yanno!

I pulled all the charts out of my "Favorites" drawer and spread them out across the floor around me and chose as my next project "Good to be Home" by Heart in Hand (HIH). This chart came to me kitted up as my prize for winning the January 2008 Monthly Goals drawing in StitchNSwap2. Karen included the linen and over-dyed threads with the chart and buttons. Since I'd just returned home from being in the hospital and rehab for 35 days, this was a very appropriate sentiment at the time, and still is! Now I'm finally going to stitch it!

I've also decided that I'm going to flip between two larger projects once IGTBH is done. First, I have Mom's sampler "Heart of America," a limited release by Little House Needleworks (LHN). She saw the model in the shop at the retreat and fell in love. She's asked me to stitch it and give it to her for Christmas, so I have a deadline (OMG!). Second is Patriotic Wishes I & II. These are shown as twelve individual pillow ornaments, but I will be doing them on one piece of fabric, in four rows of three.

I have a story for you. And before I even begin, Yes! I know I'm going to Hell for laughing until I cried, but I just couldn't stop myself. If it makes it any better, Mom laughed just as hard.

So here it is: Sarah sent me an instant message on the computer this evening telling me how she was getting ready to pull her hair out. It went something like, "Anna woke up before me this morning and didn't wake me up like she usually does. Instead of getting one of her snacks, she ate the cookies we made for Tyler on Sunday. She had crumbs all over the couch, loveseat, livingroom floor, her bed, her bedroom floor....everywhere!

Now Caleb is crying and whining about everything Anna does. Anna is crying and whining about everything Caleb does. And Caleb is walking around the apartment saying 'God damnit.' They're being absolutely ridiculous today!"

Jameson Caleb turned two in March. The mental picture and hearing that little voice in my head saying "Ga dimit" was just too freakin' funny! Lord, please forgive me!

I called Sarah about something else and heard her ask Anna to go play in her room for a little while because she was doing homework. Anna started bawling and said that she didn't want to play in her room. I asked Sarah if it would help if I picked up Anna and did something with her for a little while, because Caleb was happily playing by himself in his bedroom. As the words were coming out of my mouth, I was mentally going through a list of things I have here at the house that Anna would like to do. By the time I picked her up and brought her back here I had a plan.

The plan was to spread an old sheet out on the livingroom floor (the clean half) and give her stickers, coloring books, twist-up crayons (so she can't break them), and to put a Disney movie in the DVD player. I also set out my double-twelve dominoe set for her to build stuff with. She chose to watch Cinderella because Aunt Beth didn't have her favorite, Ariel. She took all the other "kids' movies" and spread them out on her sheet in front of her. When she asked for some of my tea, I gave her a cup with a lid, but I was nervous about her tipping it over because the lid didn't seal. So I took a box and flipped it over; it became Anna's impromptu table. She also put her plate of chicken on it when she ate her dinner.

Once Cinderella got started, though, there was nothing else for Anna Lynn. She was completely engrossed in the movie, as she usually is.

We went for a walk with Kasey around 8:00pm and Anna asked if she could play in the playground. I live next door to a private nursery school and kindergarten so the playground is always a big hit with the little ones. We went in and Anna played with the sand digger and then swung on one of the swings while I pushed her.

When she got down, she walked over to Kasey to pet her. She asked, "what's those?" pointing to the swarm of mosquitoes on and around Kasey's head. When I realized how bad they were, I told her we had to leave. Anna and I both were bitten several times on the way back up to the house. We will not be going back to the playground until things dry out more. The mosquitoes are AWFUL around here right now!

I put Lady and the Tramp in the DVD player for Anna when we got back home and she sat on her blanket to watch it. Sarah arrived shortly after it began. Of course Anna wanted to stay to watch the movie but she stopped protesting when I told her she could come back and watch it another time. I was very proud of how well she behaved herself. Mr. Chet, who has a strong dislike of small children, even deigned to let Anna touch him. I was shocked!

On the way from Sarah's to my house, I'd told Anna that I had some stickers for her. I asked her if she knew where stickers went and she said, "yes."

"So where are you going to put them, Anna?" I asked.

"On my doorhead," she said.

That made me chuckle. "On your forehead?" I said.

"Yes!" was the reply. And she did! I was also sticker-fied on my forearm and the back of my hand. I'm thankful that she didn't think to try putting any on Kasey and/or Chet! Kasey was Anna's pillow for a little while. She loves the attention.

That was our excitement for the day. I read email and did some other online stuff after Anna left. I stitched a little, too, but as you can see from the picture, I didn't get much done.